The Clippers are 1-4, 12th in the West and have lost four straight. Ingram, Beal, Strus and Niederhauser are all targeting Nov. 8, so the question for the season is whether that date solves an injury problem or shows a roster that was never deep enough.
The case for patience starts with who is missing.
Garland and Ingram carry the two largest salaries, $42.2M and $40.0M, and only Garland has played. Strus, the third-largest deal at $16.7M, is out with a right foot injury, and Beal is sidelined with a right knee. Without them, Lue has built games around Garland, the 38-year-old Brook Lopez and Keaton Wagler, a 19-year-old rookie. The group that closed the 26-point loss in Minnesota was Baba Miller, Blake Wesley, Cam Christie, Wagler and Nick Martinelli. Shams Charania reported Wesley's 10-day hardship deal only on Oct. 29. Clipperholics argues that Ingram's return will do wonders, and so far this rotation has never been whole.
The case against patience is written on the cap sheet.
Payroll is $188.9M: over the cap, under the $200.4M tax line, and with little room to add. The Kawhi Leonard case cost the franchise its 2029 and 2030 first-rounders outright, and the 2027 and 2028 first-rounders exist only as swaps. John Gibson is still interim governor and CEO, Trent Redden still runs basketball operations, and no permanent hire has been reported. The only moves so far have been small ones: Wesley's hardship deal and, per Law Murray, the third-year option on Niederhauser. Whatever this team becomes, it will become it with the players it already has.
So far the injuries have cost the Clippers their offense.
The losses have come in three different ways: 101-108 at Oklahoma City, 87-103 against the Lakers, then 101-127 in Minnesota. On Friday, Garland scored 24 but shot 10 of 22 with five turnovers, Wagler went 2 of 11 and Hachimura 4 of 11. Starters scored 61 and reserves 35, and Minnesota ended it with a 15-0 fourth-quarter run that pushed 92-106 to 92-121. Clipperholics says the team is asking too much of Wagler, and the shooting line backs that up. The power rankings dropped the Clippers from 3rd to 21st in a week.
The answer is health, and Nov. 8 is the test.
The trip to Golden State comes against a team missing Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler III, Kristaps Porzingis and Moses Moody, and Toronto and Miami follow at Intuit Dome. With 77 games left, 1.5 games behind the Warriors for 10th is a shallow hole. Not everyone is coming back soon: Jordan Miller is not projected to return until March 2. The verdict is that this is an injury problem, because the cap sheet and the pick ledger rule out any other fix. The proof comes against New Orleans on Nov. 8 and at Phoenix two nights later. If the healthy group cannot bend the 16-66 pace, the question stops being about health and becomes the window.
When will Brandon Ingram return for the Clippers?
Ingram is out with a right Achilles issue, and his estimated return is Nov. 8 against the Pelicans. Beal, Strus and Niederhauser have the same estimated date.
Can the Clippers trade for help during their 1-4 start?
Their options are thin: the 2029 and 2030 first-round picks were forfeited, and the firsts in 2027 and 2028 are swaps. Payroll is $188.9M, over the cap but under the $200.4M tax line.
